Department of Justice

Grundy County Gun Dealer Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Selling Handguns and Rifles

CHICAGO ― A Grundy County gun dealer was sentenced today to 4 years in federal prison for selling nearly a dozen firearms to buyers he believed were not legally allowed to purchase the weapons.

PATRICK SEAN KEIRAN, 41, used his federal firearms license to sell eleven weapons to two buyers, one of whom was an undercover law enforcement officer who told Keiran he couldn’t pass the required background check. The other buyer was a convicted felon whose criminal history prevented him from legally purchasing the weapons. In both instances, Keiran doctored the bill of sale and the federal firearms paperwork by using the names of other customers as the purported buyers.

Keiran, who operated American’s Choice Firearms and Ammo in Gardner, pleaded guilty in April to one count of selling a firearm to a prohibited person. In addition to the 48-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly also imposed three years of supervised release.

“The defendant let these individuals walk out of his store with brand new firearms and no possible paper trail for law enforcement to follow if those guns were ever used for criminal purposes,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher V. Parente argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. The defendant “put his own greed above the safety of the community.”

Keiran has been a federally licensed firearms dealer since April 2013. On May 29, 2014, Keiran sold three 9mm handguns for $960 to the undercover agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The following month, Keiran sold the undercover agent a .38- caliber revolver for $398.43, and two .22-caliber rifles for approximately $1,390. The rifle transaction was completed at Keiran’s home in Elwood because Keiran wanted to avoid the surveillance cameras in his gun shop.

On June 20, 2014, Keiran sold five 9mm handguns for $1,600 to the convicted felon, who was cooperating with law enforcement. This deal was also conducted inside Keiran’s home.

Keiran was arrested in July 2014, and his gun store was closed.

The sentencing was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Jeffery Magee, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Will County Sheriff’s Police Department, the Will County Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad (MANS), and the Grundy County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation.